Conveyer mechanism



Nov. 2, 1954 P. DE ANGUERA 2,693,287

CONVEYER MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 23, 1949 IN V EN TOR.

[9% d6 lfnyaera origi al application August .23,.194 9, Srial No'.:i1 1,940,

' now Patent No. v2,621,069., .datedlle'cember '9, '1952. Divided and this application April 25,":1952,-Ser ialNo. 284,425 H n I'Clair'n. (Cl. 214-89) This invention relates to conveyor mechanisms and resides in a traveling hoist and endless conveyor arranged in a novel manner for cooperation with a particular hoist grapple means to effect automatic and rapid transfer of an object from the hoist to the conveyor. This application is a division of an application filed by me on August 23, 1949, Serial No. 111,940 for Grappling Device, now Patent No. 2,621,069.

Various main and subsidiary features of the invention will be described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a grappling device for the conveyor mechanism of this invention.

P Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device illustrated in ig. l.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a railroad tie conveying mechanism with the grappling device associated therewith.

With reference to the drawings the grappling device 6 comprises a pair of jaw members 7 and 8 constructed from long, stout metal plates which havediagonal bends 9 and 10 respectively formed intermediate their ends that provide flat arm portions 11 and 12 and substantially parallel side portions 13 and 14 respectively for the jaws. The flat arms are pivotally connected at 15 in face-to-face relationship at their forwardly disposed common ends, and, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, a relatively long shaft 16 is fixed at its lower end to the arm 11 of jaw member 7 by welding, or the like, and extends at right angles therefrom to pass through an aligned opening 17 formed through the fiat arm 12 of the jaw member 8. A sleeve 18 is fixed to the arm 12 for the reception of the shaft 16, the upper end of the shaft being threaded at 19 for cooperation with a nut 20, the latter of which bears against the upper end of the sleeve 18. The purpose of the long shaft 16 and the cooperating sleeve is to provide good bearing surfaces between the pivoted arms 11 and 12 of the grapple. The long shaft also serves as a convenient handle when applying the grapple to an object to be moved thereby.

The rear portion of an eye-link 21 encircles the sleeve 18 and preferably forms a part of the Welded connection between the sleeve and the arm 12 in that one'end of the link bears against and is welded to the arm and is also welded to the base of the sleeve. The end of a draft line 22 is threaded through and secured to the forward end of the eye-link by a suitable draft line connection.

A spring 23 extends between and is connected at its ends to the arms 11 and 12 of the jaw members and to this end bolts 24 and 25 are threaded in the upper faces of the arms and are each encircled by a ring or eye 26 and 27 formed on the ends of the spring 23. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the coils of this spring are normally in surface contact and maintain the jaw members at me determined, spaced apart minimum distances. When the jaws are rotated away from each other around their common pivot, the spring is placed in tension which tends to urge the jaw members together toward clamping condition with an object positioned between the side port1ons 13 and 14 thereof.

The diagonal bends 9'and 10 in the jaw members 7 and 8 respectively are opposite each other and are substantially parallel so that the downturned sides 13 and 2,693,287 .iia atesi N v! 22.1954

be s7 and '8fare each provided with a spur or pointed "Fawn I.

prong 28-29 respectively which extends inwardly from theY-adjacentffaces of -said side sf d, as most clearly lu tra d nfiF-i hate t ei -P i ed. en a 535 m' n r d Iw Qnb e v 1. I. m' pi ct'ineans forthejawmembers. h a a iqn f m a lin v e will b .described connection with a novelrailroad tie conveying mechanism and it will-be noted, with 'reference'to Fig. 4*, that the grapple 6 is secured to the end of the draft line 22 which in turn is secured to a carriage 32 mounted for reciprocating movement on an overhead track 33. The track terminates above the receiving end 34 of an endless belt conveyor 35 which has a suitable, inclined guide plate 36 positioned in front of the receiving end and in the path of a railroad tie 37 carried by the conveyor. It will be noted with reference to Fig. 4, wherein the arrows indicate the directions of travel of the overhead hoist carriage 32 and the endless conveyor 35, that the carriage is moved back and forth in the unidirectional line of travel of the conveyor 35. During hoist operation my grappling device maintains the railroad tie in a predetermined position with the grappler straddling the uppermost portion of the forward end of the tie. This position is maintained because the draft line connection is located above and forwardly of the clamping device whilst the tie engaging spurs on the clamp jaw members have their tie entering points directed toward the clamp line connection and are spaced below and rearwardly of said draft line connection; said spurs being spring urged into the tie at right angles to the line of draft. The conveyor and its grappling device therefore deposits the tie upon the conveyor belt 35 in a position with its axis extending in the direction of travel of said belt, with the device upon the uppermost surface of the tie, and the spur carrying side members 13 and 14 of the device straddling the sides of the tie. The forward speed of the belt 35 is somewhat greater than the speed of the overhead carriage 32 whereby the speed differential in eifect gradually reverses the draft direction of the line 22 relative to the tie. As the carriage reaches a stop 38 on the track its movement and the actual movement ,of the draft line are fully reversed whilst the tie moves forwardly on the conveyor 35 With reference to the dotted line showing in Fig. 4 it will be noted that when the draft line 22 becomes taut in the reverse .direction, it will initially cause pivotal movement of the grapple around the spurs 28 and 29 whereby the forward portions of the arms 11-12 of the grapple move upwardly away from the tie at a greater rate than their rear trailing portions. This initial movement causes the trailing, inner edge portions 39-39 of the arms 11 and 12 to come in contact with the subjacent, marginal portions of the tie so that transversely aligned fulcrums are established between the grapple and tie around which the grappler rotates during its final releasing movement. Generally the initial pivotal movement of the grapple relative to the tie carries through approximately 15 before contact is made between the tie and the grapple arms at fulcrum points 39-39. Upon contact and further movement of the arms by the line toward the trailing end of the tie the sides 13-14 of the grapple are rotated counterclockwise (Figs. 2 and 4) around the points 39-39 thereby sliding the spurs upwardly in an arcuate path along the respective sides of the tie until they move beyond the upper edge of said sides and are disengaged therefrom whereupon the tie is released from the jaws of the grapple and is free to move upon the endless conveyor to its destination whilst the draft carriage returns in an opposite direction to pick up the next tie.

What is claimed is:

The combination with a continuously operated, unidirectional conveyor having a loading station at one end thereof and adapted to receive objects at the loading station and convey them from said station, of an overhead track extending from a point over said end of the conveyor to a point in advance of the conveyor and 7 having a carriage movable back and forth thereon in the line of travel of the conveyor, the forward limit of the travel of the carriage being above the receiving station of the conveyor, a drag line on said carriage, and grapple means on said drag line operated by the said drag line and carriage for dragging an object upon the conveyor at the loading station and operable by movement of the object on the conveyor beyond the limit of the forward travel of the carriage for releasing the object, said grapple means having a portion which is substantially parallel with the surface of the object being loaded when the drag line and carriage are, moving ahead of the object and pulling it onto the conveyor, the grapple means being tilted by the drag line to an angle to the 15 2,546,374

surface of said obiect when the grapple means moves with respect to the carriage ahead of the carriage to a point where the drag line becomes taut, and spurs on the grapple that release the object upon such tilting 5 movement of the grapple means relative to said object.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 713,433 Herl Nov. 11, 1902 1,033,531 Brown July 23, 1912 1,520,634 Eskildsen Dec. 23, 1924 2,177,941 Knudson et al Oct. 31, 1939 Rayburn et a1 Mar. 27, 1951 

